My Whole Life
by Amanda Lord
Summary: Oz has always been kind of unique. Ever wonder where he got his interesting outlook on life? Or where the line “My whole life I've never loved anything else.” came from in Wild at Heart. It always struck me as a bit odd. This is how he knew that his w


My Whole Life  
  
By Amanda Lord  
(Amanda_lord@lycos.com)  
  
Summary: Oz has always been kind of unique. Ever wonder where he got his interesting outlook on life? Or where the line "My whole life I've never loved anything else." came from in Wild at Heart. It always struck me as a bit odd.  
  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing. I am making this up. I am simply writing a story with someone else's fictional characters.  
  
  
  
Daniel Osborne put his cleats in the box with the rest of the sports equipment. It was his last morning in his family's house. They were moving to a little California town named Sunnydale. A little tiny middle of nowhere place that he had to move to just because his parents thought it would be nice to get away from Chicago.  
  
"Danny!"  
  
He turned and looked at his friends and a huge smile crossed his face.  
  
"Dude I'm glad that you are here. I'm bugging out. I can't believe that we are leaving."  
  
Tyler shook his head, "Danny what are we going to do without you? I mean who will be there to make all the snarky remarks behind the teacher's backs. Class is going to blow now."  
  
"I know just think about me. I'm going to be surrounded by all of these laid back surfer types. I'm going to start saying things like 'radical.'  
  
"Like oh my god," Drew intoned.  
  
Danny put a completely vacant look on his face and began to lecture on the multipurpose usage of surfboard wax.  
  
Tyler and Drew were dying on the floor in laughter. When they finally recovered they looked at Danny.  
  
"Man we've been friends since fourth grade," Tyler sighed, "I can't believe you're breaking up the band."  
  
Danny rolled his eyes, "We've been trying to play for five years now. I still can't get the rhythm right on the drums."  
  
"Well that is because we always thought we had tomorrow," Tyler mocked.  
  
"Tyler get a clue," Danny chastised, "We suck. Let me tell you how much we suck. We suck so much that people who suck laugh at us."  
  
"Danny don't go," Drew whined, "You're going to leave me here with him. He's going to turn me into a moron."  
  
"You're already a moron," Danny informed him.  
  
The three continued on their tirades until Danny's mother came into the room. She and Danny were going on a plane to set up the house. His father would follow with the van full of their house.  
  
Danny bid his friends good-bye for a final time. Then he got on the plane. He was a wisecracking carefree boy as he left Chicago. He was a brown haired boy who loved playing soccer and running around with his friends.  
  
***  
  
Danny laid his head back on his headrest. His earphones played the latest top forty hit. He let the familiar music flow over him. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.  
  
***  
  
He suddenly felt something surge through his body. He was looking out the window and he could see the sun set. Moreover he could feel the sun set. He could feel it slipping behind the edge of the world. He could feel his skin start to itch. It was as if he was being called.  
  
***  
  
When he woke up there was a man sitting next to him.  
  
The man was wearing the worst clothes that he had ever seen. Danny didn't know why, but the man was creepy. The man never looked at him, but he still felt very uncomfortable.  
  
"What are you listening to?" the man finally asked.  
  
Danny looked at him, not wanting to answer. However he couldn't come up with a reason not to answer. He had always liked to talk.  
  
"Smashmouth."  
  
The man nodded and continued to stare ahead, "I forgot, you still like that stuff."  
  
"What are you talking about? I just heard them. They kick ass."  
  
"You still like the whole top 40 thing. What do you think of emo music?"  
  
Danny snorted, "Alternative for the sake of being alternative. That crap is for weirdoes."  
  
The man nodded, "I'm here to offer you a choice."  
  
Danny moaned, of all the people on the plane he had to sit next to the Jesus freak.  
  
"I'm not talking about religion. I'm talking about your life. You get to answer yes or no. you can choose to die now or live."  
  
Danny looked around wildly for a stewardess.  
  
"I'm not a terrorist either. All I am saying is that you will listen to me. You answer yes and you'll move to California for the next couple of years until you are needed. You say no this entire plane goes down."   
  
Danny's eyes grew wide, "I don't understand."  
  
The man gave a half smile, "Most people don't understand me. That is my charm," the man leaned in, "But you will."  
  
Then Danny blinked.  
  
***  
  
When he opened his eyes he was in the front passenger side of a van traveling down the highway.  
  
"So what do you think, Oz?" a voice asked.  
  
Danny shrugged  
  
"That excited, eh?"  
  
Danny figured that he was acting weird so he gave the guy a smile.  
  
And the guy nearly drove off the road.  
  
"What is wrong with you?" the man gasped, "Please don't ever do that again."  
  
Danny sat in silence for a bit. He was confused, to say the least. He didn't know what was going on.  
  
"You are really bugged about seeing this girl aren't you?" the guy asked.  
  
*Just let go* he heard that guy's voice in his head.  
  
"Yeah," Danny heard his own voice say evenly, "I mean she is the only thing that can make me loose control."  
  
The man rolled his eyes, "And lord knows that would mean the world is ending."  
  
Oz opened his mouth, "Well there is something that I haven't told you about this little vacation."  
  
"I'm not liking this."  
  
"Well Devon, have you ever thought about the weird things that happen in Sunnydale."  
  
"What weird things?"  
  
"Like big snake on graduation."  
  
"I didn't go to graduation."  
  
"How about all of the disappearances."  
  
Devon shrugged.  
  
"Okay lets try this again, we're going back because there is something really bad in Sunnydale."  
  
"Like what?  
  
Oz was sick of playing this game.   
  
"Devon we're not playing the arena concert this weekend because there is a demon that wants to end the world and we are going to go and stop it."  
  
"Riiight," Devon said skeptically, "If you don't want to tell me than don't. you don't have to make up stories."  
  
Oz shrugged and went back to silence. Devon was loyal and a good lead man, Oz had always liked him.  
  
***  
  
Oz lay in the bed. He could see the smoke out the window. There was plenty of smoke and there would be for days. However the world was going to go on.  
  
He had made sure of that.  
  
He remembered the blood and the screams. He remembered the flash of red hair.  
  
He had saved her. She was really the only reason that he had done this.   
  
It had always been about her.  
  
Then she was there, carrying bandages.  
  
Oz shook his head, "No."  
  
The word came out weakly.  
  
"But, you need bandages. That way you can stop bleeding and heal."  
  
She spoke nervously and fast. Tears began to form in her eyes.  
  
"We both know what is happening."  
  
The tears began to fall.  
  
"No," she said not wanting it to be true.  
  
He smiled a brave smile. He had saved the world for her. She would have flowers and sunshine because he had killed it.  
  
She sobbed and held him close.   
  
"My whole life I've never loved anything else," he whispered.  
  
She knew that it was true. She cried harder.  
  
She smelled like wild flowers and sunshine.  
  
She was safe.  
  
***  
  
Daniel opened his eyes and the creepy guy was sitting next to him still. Daniel blinked repeatedly and he realized that his cheeks were wet with tears.  
  
"What was that?" he asked in a strangled voice.  
  
"Your destiny," the man said simply.  
  
Daniel swallowed.  
  
He had to choose. He could die now or later. He thought about all of the pain that he had been in. Dying in that bed hadn't been fun.  
  
Except for the simple fact that she had been there.  
  
He remembered his love for her. It had been bright and beautiful. He didn't know who she was or what had just happened. He didn't understand. All that he knew however was that she had been worth it. Living a little longer would meet him up again with her.  
  
"I'll do it," Daniel said, "Now if you don't mind I'm going to go to the bathroom."  
  
Whistler got up and let him by. Whistler watched him leave.  
  
"I'm sorry that it is going to hurt so much."  
  
And he wasn't just talking about dying.  
  
****  
  
Daniel looked in the bathroom mirror and splashed water on his face.  
  
He ran his fingers through his hair and examined the face in the mirror.  
  
He suddenly felt as if there was something he should know. The vision that the guy had given him had given him the odd feeling of almost knowing. It was as if there was something on the tip of his tongue that he couldn't just formulate.  
  
****  
  
When he got back to his seat the other man was gone. He had suspected that he would be.  
  
Daniel put his headphones into his bag and stared out the window.  
  
In Sunnydale Oz got off the plane.  
  
****  
  
Debbie Osborne was worried about her son. He had changed when they came to Sunnydale. The last few months he had been quieter. He looked at the world as if he was contemplating what was going on. He didn't react to much. Nothing could phase him. It was as if he had pulled into himself.  
  
He also read. There was always a book in his hand. He was on a search. None of the books seemed to hold the answers that he was looking for. Once one book was done he would pick up the next one.  
  
Then there was the guitar. Debbie had spent the last three years getting used to the banging of drums. Now Oz's set lay in the garage collecting dust. When he wasn't reading and occasionally when he was she could hear him gently strumming his guitar.  
  
She didn't know what was wrong. If it was the move or what, she just knew that her very outgoing outdoorsy son had changed. She was very worried.  
  
****  
  
Oz sat quietly strumming his guitar.  
  
He closed his eyes and thought of her. 


End file.
